


A Tribute for a Friend

by KaibaSlaveGirl34



Series: Michael Jackson [13]
Category: Michael Jackson (Musician)
Genre: Community: comment_fic, Gen, Inspiration, Male Friendship, Memories, Wordcount: 100-1.000, Writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-21
Updated: 2014-01-21
Packaged: 2018-01-09 14:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1146995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaibaSlaveGirl34/pseuds/KaibaSlaveGirl34
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael visits his friend Ryan's grave the day after his funeral.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tribute for a Friend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Harry2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harry2/gifts), [ariapassionflower01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariapassionflower01/gifts).



> Hey there! Here’s a new oneshot I cooked up one day while reading about Ryan White and Michael Jackson, and the friendship between them. They were almost like brothers in every way except blood. I’m sure that, when Ryan told Michael all about the persecution he had experienced in Kokomo, Indiana, tears filled Michael’s eyes, as he believed nobody should go through that kind of drama. Ryan explained that, in 1984 when he had contracted AIDS, some kids had shunned him and he was banned from middle school. However, although his parents sued to have him readmitted and were successful, this didn’t stop Ryan’s tormentors from picking on him. 
> 
> Now, both Ryan and Michael are in Heaven, which is the place of angels. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I own the songfics, oneshots, stories and poems I cook up from time to time.

A Tribute for a Friend

It was a beautiful spring day – it was April 9, 1990. A funeral had been held for Ryan Wayne White the day before. The celebs he had befriended before he had died were all there: Michael Jackson, Elton John, First Lady Barbara Bush and Phil Donahue.

Michael, clutching a bouquet of roses, smiled tearfully as he looked down at Ryan’s grave, remembering the funeral.  
 _It was really beautiful,_ he thought. _Almost like a celebration of his life._

He took a deep breath.

“Well, Ryan, I know you’re up there in Heaven, with my older sibling Marlon’s deceased twin brother Brandon, giving him piggyback rides, and all the hugs and love he could possibly want. That’s great, and you are like a big brother to him, which is cool too.”

He paused for a moment. Unbeknownst to him, Ryan, now an angel, was listening to every word his idol was saying, a smile on his face.

 _“That’s really great, Michael,”_ he said, although to Michael, it sounded like the wind. _“I’m glad I can be a big brother to someone up in Heaven.”_

“When I attended your funeral yesterday,” Michael remembered, “it was really beautiful, and I kept looking up at the ceiling of the church, as you had told me you were a Christian and often prayed for me. It was as though I could see you giving me a smile.”

 _“I did, Michael,”_ said Ryan. _“And I’m glad I put you first in my prayers.”_

“I remember us taking a walk one day, and how I pointed out all these great trees. I also remember how you told me that God loves all people – even people who are homosexual, and that AIDS isn’t their fault, just like it isn’t your fault. You were right on both counts, Ryan.”

_“I was, Michael.”_

At the sight of tears flowing down Michael’s cheeks, Ryan wished he could reach up and wipe those tears away with a handkerchief. That was the kind of person he was – always wanting to comfort someone.

Smiling still, Michael wiped away his tears with some tissue, and then remembered what Ryan had told him one day at Michael’s Neverland Ranch.

_“I don’t like to be, you know, pitied. But I figure, you know, since this is the way the hand was dealt, I got to live this way and I’m gonna try to help anybody I can.”_

“Well, Ryan, I have a poem I want to share with you, and I know you’re listening.”

Ryan perked up. He loved Michael’s poetry, and had always applauded after Michael would finish reading one of his poems.

“Well, here goes.” Michael took a deep breath, and began to recite.

_“Ryan White, symbol of justice_  
 _Or child of innocence, messenger of love_  
 _Where are you now, where have you gone?_

_Ryan White, I miss your sunny days_  
 _We carelessly frolicked in extended plays_

_I miss you, Ryan White_  
 _I miss your smile, innocent and bright_  
 _I miss your glory, I miss your light_

_Ryan White, symbol of contradiction_  
 _Child of irony, or child of fiction?_

_I think of your shattered life_  
 _Of your struggle, of your strife_

_While ladies dance in the moonlit night_  
 _Champagne parties on chartered cruises_  
 _I see your wasted form, your ghostly sight_  
 _I feel your festering wounds, your battered bruises_

_Ryan White, symbol of agony and pain_  
 _Of ignorant fear gone insane_  
 _In a hysterical society_  
 _With free-floating anxiety_  
 _And feigned piety._

_I miss you, Ryan White_  
 _You showed us how to stand and fight_  
 _In the rain you were a cloudburst of joy_  
 _The sparkle of hope in every girl and boy_

_In the depths of your anguished sorrow_  
 _Was the dream of another tomorrow.”_

When Michael finished, Ryan, smiling still, said, _“I have to admit, Michael, I’m touched. That was – that was really beautiful.”_

“Well, Ryan, I have to go, but I’ll talk to your mom for you. I’m sure she needs my company,” said Michael as he placed the roses on the gravestone.

As Michael got to his feet and walked away from Ryan’s grave, Ryan picked up the bouquet of roses and sniffed them, then smiled.

 _“God bless you, Michael Joseph Jackson. You were truly touched by an angel,”_ he said.

Then, a cloud appeared under Ryan’s feet, and he was carried up to Heaven.

Heaven – it was truly the place of angels.

**Author's Note:**

> Nice feedback is very much appreciated, of course. :)


End file.
